Devoted to the life and work of the Vietnam veteran, best-selling author and Oscar-nominated screenwriter.

Monday, May 01, 2006

Semper Gus

It was seven years ago that I first created a website devoted to my late cousin, Gustav Hasford. In that time the site has grown from almost nothing to a huge collection of stories, interviews, photos and even the complete texts of his first two out-of-print novels. I've received emails from his fans all over the world. I've met his friends and fellow Marine combat correspondents. And I've learned a lot more about my cousin than I ever knew when he was alive. Unfortunately, I haven't had as much time lately to devote to the site, due to my own fledging writing career and the recent birth of my son. Yet even though parts of the site could use a real overhaul and update, it's still your one stop shopping source for all things Gus related, and I'll always do what I can to keep it that way. Beyond that, one of my goals in life remains the writing of a full-fledged Gus Hasford biography. Stay tuned on that one.

To kick off this new blog, I'll pass along the most recent fan letter I received, this one courtesy of the newest generation of Gus fan:

Dear Gustav (or whoever this is being sent to), I have recently seen the movie Full Metal Jacket and i loved it. For school we are supposed to be reading a book and doing talks about it, and I couldn't think of a better book to do it on. Once I found out that Full Metal Jacket was based on The Short Timers, I wanted to instantly acquire the book and read it. Sadly, your book is out of print and I wasn't really into reading about that kind of stuff when I was a small child. I have gone to major extents to find a copy of this book, but sadly, I'm not really allowed to spend over $100 on it through Ebay. If you know of anyone who has a version of this book and will sell it or if there is some place I could find it, it would be a really cool thing of you. I greatly appreciate you even reading this E-mail, it means a lot to me. Thanks a mil, Nick

Dear Mr. Aaron, First off, thanks for replying. Secondly, I know that you will probably think the fact that I want this book at my age ( 13 btw ), is absurd. Actually, I'm quite mature for my age and enjoy reading books like this. Just to clear up the fact that I'm too young, even though I probably am. As for acquiring the book, I've been checking Ebay daily and there's, sadly, nothing. I hate being a nag but do you know any antique book stores or online sites, I'm in Chicago. Also, do you know why they pulled the plug on this book and stopped producing it? Greatly Appreciated! Peace, Nick

For the record, I did help the kid find a copy of Shorty. I hope his mother approves.

2 comments:

It's good to hear his books are reaching an even younger generation, whose memory of Vietnam is nonexistent even to the extent of our generation's, ie, knowing it from evening news in the background as we grew up.

dear AronMY name is Michael and I am Italian;I've been watching Full Metal Jacket about..well 10 times in my life;the first during college(Secondary school for us wops)the second before joining the Army I haven't read Gustav's book yet but I will do it soon .I finally found Gus hashford complete profile ,I've been looking for it for Years Thank you for your work and great effortHope You will replysilentmike@alice.it

"The praise I seek from my readers is that they finish my books. After being alternately damned and praised for equally invalid reasons, I am content to trade fame for accuracy of interpretation. Fame, for a writer, is like being a dancing bear with a little hat on your head."--Gustav Hasford

Gustav Hasford was born in 1947 in Alabama and died in 1993 in Greece. In between, he served as a Marine Combat Correspondent during the Vietnam War and wrote two novels inspired by his experiences. The first of those books, The Short-Timers, became the basis for director Stanley Kubrick's film Full Metal Jacket.